A Taste of Spain in Edinburgh!

Just had to share a few photos with you today!

Up on Princes Street in Edinburgh, there was a Taste of Spain Exhibition.

This is in the square at the foot of the Mound, known as Speaker's Corner.

There were stalls all along one side of the square, each on represented a different region of Spain!

There was Mini Golf, a favourite of mine on holiday! lol

A score a gooooaaaal competiton

A change the racing car tyre speed trial

A stage with flameco dancers, singers etc etc

I have included this second photo as it shows the Tattoo Stand at Edinburgh Castle if you look at the top right of the photo in close up you'll see it better.

There was also a giant Paella with chicken & prawns, cooked over a charcoal fire. 

They were giving out free samples of this, quite a good plateful too! 

Didn't you know all the best Paella ingredients can be found in Sainsbury's! lol

Hubby made a new friend & celebrated with a traditional Spanish drink flavoured with coriander!

It was a lovely afternoon despite a few showers!

Hope you like my photos!

Meet Rocco Soccer & Be A "Dudette" For A Month!

Good morning all!

It's time for a new challenge over at Dude Time Doodles! Yee Ha!

Fancy yourself as a Dudette?

Want to be a Guest Design Team Member for a month?
Here's what you have to do!
This week at Dude Time Doodles we are kindly giving you a
FREEBIE image to play with!

Collect your FREEBIE image from the Challenge Blog,
create a project using the FREEBIE, then enter the challenge!

The Prize will be a Guest Design Spot with the "Dudettes" for a month!
Whoop Whoop!
We love having different people to play along with!
We always play nice, I promise!

I like to introduce a new friend of mine, he's called Rocco Soccer &
he's the FREEBIE you get to play with!

We the Dudettes loved playing along with him!

He loves to play football or as they call it in the good old US of A Soccer!

He reminds me very much of a school friend of mine, Eddie, who was a keen sportsman & was football/soccer mad! Still is in fact!

He now lives out in Jacksonville, Florida & teaches the game out there!

Back to Rocco!

I coloured him up with promarkers.
I've never been brave enough to do black hair before
but Rocco was crying out for black hair so that's what he got!
I was tempted to do the whole football scene thing but I've blogged that before
so thought I'd do something a bit different.
When I added the ball (which incidentally, you can also get as a
FREEBIE at the Dude Time Doodles Challenge Blog),
at his feet,there was a lot of white space at the top!
I didn't want to use any of my nesties, so I cut it off!
Yep I cut it right off & I like it like that! lol
I then matted him on to some black paper.
The base card was white linen embossed cardstock. I added a matt of black paper, then the black & white football design paper. Next I added two panels using a matt of the red paper then the striped DP.
 (Papers are from Papermania & I've had them for ages but didn't want to use them!)
I then added Rocco & decided that I would add lots of Card Candi
to embellish the card.

I added my greeting sentiment which I think may be from Sentiments 4 You
I simply ran a promarker around the edge to add a bit of colour
 then stuck on with foam tape for dimension.
I hope you like him & I hope you feel inspired to play along with our
Dude Time Doodles FREEBIE Challenge for the chance to be a
Dudette for a month!

I'd like to enter my new mate Rocco Soccer in the following Challenges!
Crafty Creations Boyz to Men
Bearly Mine Anything Goes
Shopping Our Stash Something new or something you've been hoarding (Papers)
Make It Monday Anything Goes
Pollycraft The Great Outdoors
Here Come The Boys Must be Masculine "Sporty"
Lollipop Challenges Anything Goes
One Stitch At A Time Anything Goes
A Gem Of A Challenge Let's Hear It For The Boys

Scraps!

Evening all!

Just wanted to share the card I made for the Craftystash Competition this month with you!

I posted the details about the competition earlier, you can see that post here

This month Debbie wanted us to use scraps/recycle!

Here's what I came up with!

Last month, we were given a Circus Box Card as the freebie for entering the competition. You can buy it here

I can't show you the Circus Box Card made up just yet as someone might see it before they should but I will post a pic of it later!

To make my card I used scraps of the backing paper from the download & cut into little pennant shapes for my bunting. 

I did the same with some yellow mulberry paper which I used for my Crafty Pad DT card on Sunday. 

These are stuck onto ribbon which is recycled from items of clothing. 

You know, the annoying little bits that hold stuff on hangers! 

There are two different coloured pieces of ribbon as I couldn't find a pair that matched the colours.

The ticket is from the download & matted onto a piece of the mulberry paper.

 It was a bit small & I didn't have any more so I just offset it slightly!

The ticket is mounted, using foam pads, onto a scalloped oval of another part of the download, then onto another little piece of scrap card in blue.

To finish of the design I used some mullberry paper flowers with blue flower brads centres & a couple of pins.

Thanks for looking, I had such fun making this. 

I hope you like it! 

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenge

My Grafico Anything Goes

Plant A Seed........

Happy Sunday Bloggers!

Today is a new challenge over at The Crafty Pad Challenge Blog!

This week the theme is "Lots of Texture"! 

We want to see lots of different textures on your card!

Here's the card I made.

I raided my stash to see what I could find!

I think I've managed to use lots of textures!

The base card was made from a sheet of A4 textured brown cardstock.

I added a matt of white linen textured card, then two matts of yellow 

corrugated, card, topped with some hand made paper, 

which was wrapped with some hessian mesh.

The image I have used is Polly With Flower, from The Crafty Pad Designs.

I've coloured her with promarkers & added a couple of 

mullbery paper flowers, which are held together with a brad.

I also doodled a couple of little birds in the sky as I felt I'd left a bit of a space 

when I cut her out with a nestie! 

(Perhaps I should have moved her over a bit or used a different shape of nestie)

I popped her onto another piece of the corrugated card & cut round by hand, 

before securing onto the card base.

The sentiment panels were computer generated & mounted using foam pads for dimension.

To finish off the card, I added some buttons & a couple of flourishes cut with a Marianne Designs die.

Because I love the colour of this brown card & the fact I wanted this card to have a gardeny (is that a word?) feel  I didn't want to add an insert. 

Instead, I adhered a panel of white card to write on, then  added some hand made paper corners.

Thanks for stopping by to see my card!

I hope you like it & that you can join in with us at 

The Crafty Pad this week for our "Lots of Texture" Challenge!

We are sponsored this week by our very own lovely Lorraine 

who is offering one lucky winner

A £10 gift voucher for her shop.

I would like to enter the following challenges with this card!

2 Sisters Challenges Summer Fun

Crazy 4 Challenges Summer Themed

One Stop Craft Summertime

Totally Gorjuss Summertime

Card makin' Mamas Summertime

Crafty Ann's Just Because

Phindy's Place Buttons

Aud Sentiments Challenge Sentiment With At Least Two Words

Crafty Purple Frog Summer Fun

Dutch Dare Card Challenge Summer Fun

Your Next Stamp Challenge Buttons

Going Grey With Scrap Creations Summer

Paper Take Weekly Anything Goes + use buttons

The Burtonesque Dolls Make it Double (2 panels 2 pieces of ribbon 2 Clusters of buttons, 2 single buttons, 2 flourishes etc

Daisy Doodles Designs Challenge Summer Doodles

Stamps R Us There was a little girl.

A Wedding Card & Don't Forget I have Candy!

Good evening all! Thought I'd share a wedding card with you!

This Digi is from Bug a Boo.

 I saw it on a friends blog & fell in love with it!

I used the sketch from Fussy & Fancy as the basis for my card design! 

Great sketch by the way, I love it!

I coloured the image with promarkers & added a little touch of Diamond Sparkles glitter to the brides head dress & the grooms cuff links!

 ( Not sure you can make it out in the pic though!)

I then trimmed the image & matted it onto some blue paper.

My base card was made from an A4 sheet of aqua/blue felt textured card from Southfields. 

I just love this colour!

The papers were from my stash,a I won them in a candy give away a while back.

I'm not sure where they're from 

(they may be Dovecraft). 

I thought the colours were perfect for this card. I matted those on to white paper. 

The heart punched border was done with a Martha Stewart border punch!

The gems are from my stash. 

The ribbon came with some flowers etc that I ordered from the internet. 

It's a fab etsy shop called Dainty Paperie 

My order came wrapped it tissue & tied up with this lovely ribbon!

The ticket sentiments are from The Crafty Pad Designs.

I went over the letters with a grey promarker & added some Diamond sparkles to the dots.

Thanks for stopping by for a peek!

I hope you like it!

Don't forget to enter my Candy Draw! The post is at the top!

I'd like to enter this card in the following Challenges

Bee Crafty Wedding Wishes

Ellephantastic Celebrations

Paper Creator's Special Occasion

Fabulous Friday's Recipe  (use 2 of 3 Ribbon/Trim Charm Rhinestones/Pearls) Ribbon & Rhinestones

Fussy & Fancy Sketch

Art Impressions Stamps Challenge Something from your stash (Papers & gems)

Auds Sentiment Challenge At Least Two Words

Partytime Tuesdays Square Cards

Shopping Our Stash Kit,s RAK, Candy, Won (Papers won in Blog Candy Ribbon came with order)

Kaboodle Doodles Celebration

 Pollycraft Celebrations

Craftystash Comp News

Hi all,
Just been reading about the Craftystash competition so thought I'd share it with you this morning!

Here's what Debbie Lauder, site owner has to say!

"Thanks for popping by and having a look at our latest competition. This month we are asking that you create a card or craft project using the scrap pieces in your stash. For the record your main card base does not need to be leftovers, but try to recycle as much as you can.

The finished project does not need to include a Craftystash download to be eligible, however all entries that do incorporate one of my downloads will be put into the draw bag six time instead of three so you will have double the chance of winning :) Please make sure you have noted any Craftystash downloads in your description to make sure they are not missed. Thank you :)

The prizes up for grabs this month are:

1st Prize

£10 Craftystash Gift Certificate and a choice of either a Sizzix Bigz Accordion Die or a £10 Gift Certificate for Card Making Downloads.

2nd Prize 

£5.00 Craftystash Gift Certificate and a choice of either a Sizzlits Summerblock Alphabet Die or £5.00 CMD Gift Certificate.

3rd Prize

£5.00 Craftystash Gift Certificate

To enter, simply upload your finished project to our July 2011 Competition gallery, preferably with brief details of how you created it to be in with a chance of winning. If you do not wish to create a gallery account but would still like to enter the competition, please email your entry to me before the closing date and I will add your entry for you.

The Competition will run from today and close on 31st July 2011.

The winner will be chosen by way of a raffle system. The first name pulled out 3 times will win 1st prize, the second name to be pulled out three times, will win 2nd prize and the same for the third name.

As always, a newly designed download will be emailed to all entrants as a Thank You for participating gift from me.

I hope you like the theme and prizes on offer this month and are able to join in with us.

PLEASE NOTE - This will be the last of our competitions until November 2011, so don't miss out :)"

I'm off to look at my scraps & see what I can come up with!

Hope you can find the time to join in too!

Another GDT Card!

Here I am for the second time on a Wednesday! lol

Some of you may have got a sneaky peek at this post as Mr Blogger was misbehaving last night & published instead of scheduling like I asked him too!

I was selected as a featured artist at Penny's Paper crafty Challenges

a while back with my Roshell Ducky & Eggward, Just Because I Can card!

As a result of this I was invited to be a GDT for the Challenge this week which is "Birthdays"

Here's the card I made!

It's a Tepee card!

I used a pearl cardstock for the basic teepee shape.

I then layered the panels using DPs which have been in my stash for ever. 

They are from Do Crafts

As Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge is being sponsored by Some Odd Girl,

 I used the Flower Kaylee, 

one of their images to work with!

I coloured her with promarkers.

Next, I trimmed the image, cutting the sides at a slight angle!

I then mounted her onto a piece of coloured cardstock.

The Happy Birthday sentiment ticket is from The Crafty Pad Designs.

I punched a hole at the side to allow the panels to be tied together, 

thus making it more stable & able to stand up.

I added 3 lots of two Prima Flowers, layered & with brads for centres, two of flourishes &

A charm tied on with a bow.

Here's the card from the side just so you get the full idea!

Thanks for stopping by!

 I hope you like it! 

If you have the time, do stop by & enter in the Birthday challenge at 

Penny's Paper Crafty!

Don't forget there's still time to join in at The Crafty Pad for our Particular Styles of Cards Challenge.

There is also a fab tutorial on the Challenge Blog by my good friend Ali 

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges

Craft Room Challenge Summer Birthdays

Creative Craft Challenges Pretty Blossoms

Lady Bugs Craft Ink TLT Summer Birthday

Hooked on Crafts Flowers

Stamps R Us There Was a Little Girl

One Stitch at a Time Use a Digi

Sparkles Forum Challenge Recipe

Stamptacular Sunday Use two of something (2 Pieces of Ribbon, 3x2 flowers, 2 flourishes)

2 Sisters Birthdays

I'm Distressed! It's A Sketch!

Hi all, this weeks challenge at Dude Time Doodles is a sketch challenge!

Follow the sketch to create a card for the man in your life!

You can flip it, twist it, lie it on it's side or even stand it on it's head.

 As long as we the Dudettes can see it's our sketch, we don't mind how you play it!

This week we are sponsored by Creative Inspirations who are offering a prize of 4 jars of their Fabby Paints

See Anne's Tutorial on the  DTD Challenge Blog

Here's my card!

I've used the sketch pretty much as it was but adjusted the  sizes of the panels!

The image I have used is Golfing Greg. 

He looks really distressed doesn't he! Don't think he's quite at the top of his game!lol

As you can see I have coloured him with promarkers & chalked in a background.

To mirror his distress I have distressed the edges of the image & the DP panels

I've used a square card, as my base, made from a sheet of brown textured cardstock.

I added matts of textured green DP's which have been in my stash forever. 

I'm not even sure where they came from.

I added some ribbon & a Digi Sentiment which is from TLC.

I printed it on to plain white card & cut out with a labels nestie. 

I then punched a  hole & threaded it with ribbon so it could swing!

I added some Card Candi & a Peel Off Happy Birthday.

In my stash, I found a few golfing embellies & I thought that the golf ball on the tee 

was just perfect for this card!

It gives poor Greg something to swing at! If only his club wasn't bent! lol

I also decorated the inside of the card to create a panel which could be written on.

I think that finishes it off nicely!

Thanks for looking, I hope you like it!

I also very much hope you can find the time to enter the Sketch Challenge over at 

Dude Time Doodles this week! 

THE RULES

You will have one week to flip the Sketch, twist the Sketch, work the Sketch and submit the Sketch.

You are not required to use Bonibleaux Designs although it would make us really really happy and giggle a lot if you did!

MUST be a masculine themed card, you can use humor, innuendo, be a little naughty, sarcastic, but it has got to be for a DUDE!

We the Dudettes can't wait to see what you come up with & we look forward to stopping by to visit!!

I'd like to join in with the following challenges if I may!

Going Grey With Scrap Creations Summer

Everybody Art Challenge Shapes

Paper Take Weekly Anything Goes Optional buttons

Kaboodle Doodles Celebrations

One Stop Craft Challenge Tag You're It

Always Something Creative A Work For The Men

Crafters Companion One For The Boys

Sundays With Crissy Time To De-Stress

Digi's With Attitude Anything Goes

Stamp Something Use A Digi

Digi Doodles Shop's Best Use a Digi

GDT Top Tip Tuesday!

It's me! 

On a Tuesday! lol

This weeks Challenge at Top Tip Tuesday 

is sponsored by The Crafty Pad Designs.

The theme is Wedding or Anniversary.

 I was lucky enough to be asked to be a GDT for this challenge. 

Here's what I came up with!

As you can see I made an Anniversary card.

The image is called Teds in Love & is surprise surprise from The Crafty Pad Designs.

The With Love sentiment ticket is also from The Crafty Pad Designs.

I made a 6x6inch square tent card.

The design papers are from a freebie set by Joanne Barsby from ages ago! 

I just love the soft colours!

I used a dotty paper for the top & the flourish paper on the lower part.

I than wrapped a satin ribbon around to hide the join in the papers & tied in a double knot at the front.

I also added a little lace doilly.

I coloured the image with promarkers & cut out by hand. 

There's already faux stitching around the outside of the image so I decided to highlight it with a light gray pen & then added some Diamond Sparkles to give it a bit of bling!

I used foam tape to attach to the card 

I treated the sentiment ticket in a similar fashion, adding the bling to the dots.

As well as the sentiment ticket, I added a printed Happy Anniversary greeting to the top section. I simply layered this onto the flourishes paper & mounted using foam tape for dimension.

For some added detail I used pinflair glue to stick on a couple of sweet  little roses 

& to attach some Card Candi!

Thanks for stopping by for a peek! Do pop on over & check out all the DT cards & leave them some love if you find a bit of time!Even better join in the Challenge!

I'm off to seek out some challenges to enter my card into!

.Creative Stamp Friends Dots

Hooked on Crafts Flowers

House of Gilli Lots of Sparkle

Kaboodle Doodles Challenges Celebration (Anniversary)

Pollycraft Monday Challenge Celebration (optional Stars & Stripes)

One Stitch at a Time Use a Digi

Paper Sundaes Stitching

Paper Creators Crafts Special Occasion

Polly Put The Kettle On!

Happy Sunday all!

It's about that time so I'm about to sit down, have a cuppa & take five!

This week at The Crafty Pad the theme is to Make a Type of card. e.g. Spring Card, Acetate Card, Stepper Card,Rocker Card,Shadow Box Card.....

the list is endless & it's up to you which you make.

We are kindly sponsored this week by

Crafty Ribbons

I made a wiper card!

The image I have used is Polly With Poodle.

She's new in The Crafty Pad Designs Shop

She reminds me of my niece Sarah when she was small!

We used to visit at the weekend & spend the long summer days out in the country
with her & her Gran who had a variety of poodles.

I coloured the image with promarkers & cut out with a nestie as you do!

The card is made using one sheet of cardstock & one sheet of 6x6in DP

plus some coloured paper for matting.

I'm not sure who the DP is by as it was part of a candy I won as was the punched lace border.

I assembled the card using high tack DST to hold the front & back together 

& to attach the little wiper with the butterfly on! 

The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch, 

I punched out two & layered them one on top of the other to give a little dimension.

I added a couple of gems to give accent to the butterfly & around the image!

I do hope you like little Polly & her poodle!

Please do join in the challenge at The Crafty Pad this week! 

We're so looking forward to seeing all the different types of cards you come up with!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges
Creative Inspirations Paint Summer vacation
Dream Valley Challenges Ribbon
One Stitch At A Time Use a Digi 

Catch The Bug Anything Goes

Secret Crafter Here Comes Summer

Word Play Weekend Challenge Puppies

Bling It On Anything Goes

Card & Scrap Use Dies & Punches 

Emerald Faerie Garden All Things Girly

Really Reasonable Ribbon Picnic/Summer Fun

Clearly Inspired Punches Die Cuts or Cut Outs

Crafty Ann's Just Because

Fuzzy Wuzzy Get Punchy

Stamp Something Use A Digi

Digi Doodle Shop's Best Anything Goes

Just For Fun Anything Goes

Southern Girls Childhood memories

Divas By Design Die Cuts & Punches